David's Place Was Empty

1 Samuel 20:27 And it came about the next day, the second [day] of the new moon, that David’s place was empty; so Saul said to Jonathan his son, "Why has the son of Jesse not come to the meal, either yesterday or today?"

The picture above is a rendering of David fighting a lion, which the bible says he did to protect his father's sheep. David was Israel's greatest King, and soldier, no enemy he ever faced got the better of him except for his own physical desires. That is probably why his son (Solomon) wrote in Proverbs 16:32 "He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, And he who rules his spirit, than he who captures a city." But that is not what this blog is about. The text above from 1st Samuel has always stirred feelings of longing within me, "David's place was empty."

Even now, reading it, I wonder how many of the Lord's David's are not in their place of duty. Called to greatness they are AWOL with discouragement, or caught up in trivial pursuits, or mired in some of the worlds filth. Some of the Lord's David's have no idea who or what they could be, and often like the prophet Samuel we think God's chosen ones could only be the best and brightest, and mistakenly we despise those who are less comely, or from our perspective are less promising.

Is David missing because we haven't encouraged him? Is he missing because he is still lost in sin, and we need to reach to him? Whatever the case, the kingdom needs him, and a destiny lies unfulfilled? A short poem by Whittier, I have burned into memory, :

“Of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these, 'It might have been.” 

Is there a place that you should be filling, and aren't? Are you a David on the run? Most David's see them selves are far less significant then they really are. Life is really not about who you think you are, but who God wants you to become. Keep the fire burning!